Why couldn’t the first half of this season be as good as the second half? Seriously, this season has been absolutely stellar since the merge. Tonight’s episode of Survivor: Caramoan — Fans Vs. Favorites was a jam-packed hour with two Immunity challenges, a pair of Tribal Councils and the remaining eight castaways were whittled down to the final six. If that wasn’t enough, trust within the group began to dwindle and Erik made the same, silly-ass move he did during season 16 by giving away Immunity. Yep! He did it again!

Balancing Battle

The first of the two Immunity challenges was an awesome endurance competition that forced the final eight to stand barefoot on small wooden slats that were attached to floating triangular platforms — aka Caramoan torture devices. This wasn’t just a battle of withstanding the pain, but also a struggle of staying focused on the game as Jeff Probst tried to woo each of them out of the challenge with various food items. I always love these moments because it shows how desperate people are for fast satisfaction instead of concentrating on their long-term goals. Much like the situation with last week’s auction, it’s always stunning to see people — who know they are definite threats — drop out of the challenge so easily.

Within minutes of the challenge beginning, Erik and Eddie jumped off together to share ice-cold milk and doughnuts. Three hot dogs and a soft drink were offered up next, which Cochran gladly took after trying to explain to his allies his decision before jumping off. When a gust of wind whipped by, Dawn and Sherri involuntarily fell out of the competition — no food for them.

Although he held on after nearly falling several times, Reynold finally succumbed to the wind and fell next. Andrea and Brenda, the last two standing, weren’t willing to forfeit the challenge because they both wanted to win. After more than three hours, they both agreed on making a new rule that they could only stand on their right foot. It wasn’t long before Brenda dropped out and gave Andrea victory.

Erik Gives Up Immunity — Again

In addition to winning Immunity, Andrea was also given a Reward in the form of a note with information. Although she regretted promising to share the note’s content with Brenda, she did. But then she shared it with everybody else and Erik easily found the Idol using the same clue Malcolm couldn’t decipher a few days earlier. Hilariously, he made the same mistake he did the first time he played by giving up Immunity and handing it over to a woman. Immediately after unearthing the Idol, he voluntarily gave it up to Andrea — somebody who already has safety from winning the challenge. Dope.

Who Is The Biggest Threat?

Feeling that Brenda proved she was a threat to win the game after showing her strong will by refusing to forfeit the challenge, Andrea started a campaign against her before Tribal Council. Cochran seemed to agree with the plan that Brenda would be a good person to eliminate now, but Dawn, predictably, seemed very skeptical. None of it mattered though because four votes fell against Reynold, which was enough to send him packing. The other four votes were spread out between three people — Eddie had two, Sherri and Erik each had one.

Questionable Ally

When they returned to camp, Andrea pushed even harder to get Brenda — or even Dawn — voted out of the game. But Cochran was becoming very weary of her strong willingness to turn on her own allies, which made him start considering voting against her instead. His worries were shared by Dawn and Brenda who both thought now made the most sense to blindside her, which would also flush out the Idol that Erik found and gave to her.

After Erik won the second Immunity challenge of the episode, Andrea’s focus to convince everybody to vote Brenda off next was in full swing. But everybody else in her alliance seemed totally turned off by her sudden lack of trust. When Tribal Council arrived, the core majority alliance shattered and sent a very shocked, overly confident Andrea out of the game with the hidden Idol in her pocket. “That was really good,” she said with a smile on her face before Probst snuffed her torch out.

The perfect blindside.

What are your thoughts on this episode? Were you surprised to see Reynold get voted out of the game? Do you think Andrea deserved to be voted out? Do you think she was playing the game too hard? Which of the final six castaways do you hope wins the entire season? Who is the one player you absolutely do not want to see win the game? It won’t be long before we find out because the big two-hour finale and live one-hour reunion show comes on Sunday, May 12 live from Los Angeles. As always, I will be there in person at the finale with a seat in the audience and a spot on the red carpet to bring you interviews with all the top contestants.